Friday, October 19, 2018

The Road to Recovery

Hello, friends!  Well, praise God I came through my shoulder surgery.  But let me tell you....this is NOT fun.  It's very painful, I can't use my right hand/arm, I have to rely on my husband to do my hair (ponytail) so I look laughable at best, I'm typing with just left hand fingers, I'm having some other little side health issues, and life is very challenging dealing with it all while I'm hurting so badly.  However....I am SO BLESSED and so grateful for so many things.  I never want to lose sight of the fact that my blessings far outweigh my burdens.  I praise God for health insurance and the peace of knowing this isn't a financial burden, and....I was lucky enough to have made a special connection with my surgeon's assistant who hooked me up (as a courtesy) with an amazing ice machine that has a large pad that wraps around my shoulder with velcro straps hugging my wounded arm and delivering pain-relieving ice therapy.  And then there's my hubby who gets me my vanilla latte every morning, meals, and anything else I request; and my sweet son who wakes in the middle of the night to help me and pray with me.  Yes, this is difficult....but I am SO very blessed through it all.   My cup runneth over.
So if you're wondering...NO!  I did not make these cards with one hand.  These two cards were made (pre-surgery) and I felt up to photographing them today, and now I'm "chicken plucking" this blog post to share them with you.  They use an old favorite Crate Paper line called Restorations that I was lucky enough to get more of on EBay recently.  I just love this line.  The first card (above) uses patterned papers, stickers, and a darling chipboard button card from the Restorations collection, as well as a Grungy Stained Tag, some sequins, a punched butterfly, some sequins, a stamped sentiment, and a Papertrey Ink die-cut wreath cut from a wood-grain patterned paper.
This second card also uses the Restorations line from Crate Paper by way of the patterned papers, journalling card, Memories sticker, cute chipboard tag, and even the little tassel is by Crate Paper.  I stamped my sentiment, and added some Natural Burlap String, a few Double-Head Stamens, lots of Tim Holtz Distress Inks, a Rusty Pear-Shaped Safety Pin, and a Miniature Sweetheart Blossom.  And of course, I used a Lunchbag Kraft Note Card.
The string of hearts is a PTI die-cut, and I machine stitched through the center of it, which makes such a cute border. I just really wanted to share a close-up photo to show you how sweet the little chipboard tag and tassel are.  They just tie everything together so nicely.  Well, I sure think they're cute!  I really do thank you for stopping by, and please know that I am SO very grateful for all the prayers, warm thoughts and well wishes I've received during this trying time.  Let's all just take time to count our blessings and focus on all the good things in our lives.  God is so good ALL the time!

Hugs,
Karen

I'm playing along here:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog - Animal Antics - My first card has a butterfly.  I hope that's an animal, as it's definitely one of God's little creatures...so it must have been on the ark, right?  LOL

CropStop Challenge Blog - Linky Party #44 - Anything Goes - I used lots of fabulous Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Dare2BArtzy - October Challenge:Autumn/Fall - Both my cards use warm, Autumn colors

SumMore Fun Challenge - Sketch Fun - I used the sketch for my first card, but I flipped it.  I ran the strips of patterned paper down the side and then placed my focal point offsetting the strips.


10 comments:

  1. Karen, these are beautiful. So sorry that you are having pain. Sending you healing hugs and prayers.

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  2. OH Karen - that sounds painful - praying you heal quickly - from the surgery and the other issues.
    Love your cards - the colours are fabulous and I can see why you love those papers.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  3. Glad your surgery went well, and hope you are soon feeling a LOT better!! Thanks for linking these two beautiful cards up to the Cropstop blog this month!

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  4. Hi Karen! Thanks for stopping by my blog with your sweet comment. I really hope that your shoulder makes a fast recovery. My dad had his rotary cuff repaired a few years ago and he was flat out miserable for so long with it. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!
    As for the SumMore Fun GDT call, to my knowledge, nothing has been decided on yet! The owners are at an expo this weekend, so as you can imagine, things have been busy getting ready for that. I am so happy that you took the time to apply! I feel like you would make a great asset to the team as your style is one of a kind awesome :)
    With that being said, thank you so much for taking the time to participate in our sketch challenge! As always, your cards bring a smile to my face.

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  5. Gorgeouss cards Karen 🌸 wishing you a speedy recovery and hope you can craft soon again 🙂 hugss Ria

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  6. Hi Karen! I love your cards and I'm so sorry to read that you have had surgery. Hope yo have a speedy recovery!
    Hugs Hazel x

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  7. Hi Karen! First, your cards are amazing! I love all the detail and the stitching - fantastic! I also want to thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving me such a kind comment :) Lastly, I suffer from chronic pain (loooong story) and I feel for you and your shoulder! It sounds like it was a major surgery, but you have a wonderful team taking care of you - except for the ponytails - LOL - I hope you feel better very soon & I am happy to meet you and add you to my bunch of crafty friends <3 Gentle Hugs!

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  8. Great cards! Love the layers and all the extra details! Thanks for participating in the Dare 2B Artzy October Challenge! -Tasha ☺

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  9. Beautiful cards! Prayers for quick healing. Thank you for joining in our challenge at SumMoreFun.

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  10. You put so much detail in your cards. They are gorgeous! Thank you for playing along in the SumMore Fun Sketch Challenge!

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Thanks for your comments. They mean so much to me.